A Primitive Heritage
by Never Ending Illusions
Summary: The Primes landed on Earth to harvest the sun for Energon. But when the Fallen left them for dead after realizing there were inhabitants, they merged part of their sparks within six of the humans knowing their legacy would live on within them.
1. Chapter 1

**A Primitive Heritage**

by Zaru

**Summary: **The ancient Primes landed on Earth to harvest the sun for Energon. But when the Fallen left them for dead after realizing there were inhabitants on the planet, they merged part of their sparks within six of the humans knowing their legacy would live on within them.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Transformers and the human characters belonging to Hasbro. Kia Hawkins belongs to weapon13whitefang. Bethany King belongs to Mrs. Optimus Prime. Zaru Kiys belongs to me.

**A/n:** This is an A.U. in part of _The Fates Collide Series. _And I'm sorry if it feels a little rushed here. I haven't been that good with detail lately. Please enjoy.

**PROLOGUE**

The Earth was filled with nothing but dirt and rocky plains. It seemed desolate and uninhabited. There was nothing for it to offer them. Yet they still insisted upon relocating themselves to such a place to see what it might bring them. And the quiet still of the planet was what brought the ancient Primes to the Earth in sensing a great source of warmth and power.

The seven primes landed on the Earth in great balls of meteors that practically shook the Earth as they landed in the water and sandy shore. A high eruption of water cascaded into the sky as four of the Primes emerged, dripping wet from their landing. The other three had to unbury themselves from the sand, the impact landing burying them deep within the ground.

Darvius Prime, his armored body the color of charcoal, thrust his hand from the sand, sputtering out the tiny grains in disgust from his small mouth.

"Pffft! This planet is uninhabited all right!" He ground his metal teeth together as he attempted to push himself up from his arrival spot. "Who would wish to live on a planet such as this?"

Reaper Prime just laughed at his brother's predicament. "Oh come now, Darvius. We shall not know anything until we've taken a look around on the planet. Surely there must be some form of life here if there is a liquid substance around." The copper colored mech gestured to the clear, blue water.

Another Prime pulled himself from the sand as well, shaking his entire body to rid the sandy remains. "Reaper is right, Darvius." He stated while holding out a hand for the stuck mech who gratefully took it. "There is a possibility of life here. Don't you agree, Quriin?" Elutus turned to his oldest Prime brother.

Quriin Prime wasn't paying attention. His red optics was staring at only one thing: The sun. It was the perfect star to harvest Energon from. Their fellow beings would be supplied for millennia with the amount it could produce. And he'd be damned to the Pit if there was life on this so-called planet to stop him from doing so. His comrades were far more important than anyone else.

"Quriin?" Elutus called to him again, thin metal fingers resting on his shoulder.

"Hm?" Quriin turned and came face-to-face with the youngest of the Primes. "What?"

Elutus blinked his blue optics. "We have seen no life thus far, but there is a chance some life is possible."

Quriin shook his head, his arm creaking as he lifted it to brush Elutus's hand from his shoulder. "If there is life, we should still harvest the Energon. We are an elite race and have a right to survive."

Chalius and Scythe, Prime twins of the same royal blue color, emerged from the blue water, shaking off the liquid, hoping their armor did not rust from it.

"Life is precious, Quriin. Do not forget." Scythe cracked his neck gears and plopped down on the sand while looking at the sun which was beginning to disappear from view.

"The sun is disappearing, Darvius." Morpheus, who had also appeared from the water stated while watching alongside Scythe. "Perhaps we should begin our search immediately. Otherwise we will not be able to decipher the layout of this planet."

Reaper let air escape through side vents. "We will be unable to move fast enough to scour this entire planet. It might be best to recharge until the sun appears once more to continue our scan of the area."

Quriin wished to argue Reaper's suggestion, but he decided against it. He mentally growled. Time was of the essence and only to delay the harvesting was making him angry. Death be to all those who may roam within this world. They were not important enough. And if they were unable to survive without their sun, why should a weak race be able to continue living on anyway?

The seven Primes made themselves comfortable amongst the rocky plains surrounding the beach. Darvius and Morpheus watched as the night's bright orb lit the waters, the waves rolling in continuously, pounding against the sandy shores. The others, except for Quriin were already in recharge, gathering up enough energy to begin their investigation of the unknown sphere they landed on. Quriin, unbeknownst to the others, snuck away from his brothers to have some time for himself before off lining himself.

The Prime clutched the metal tentacles surrounding his head, his crimson gaze growing darker as several thoughts moved through his processor. With as much energy the planet's sun was giving off, the Primes would be heroes back on Cybertron. To harvest such a high amount of Energon that could last eons would be a dream come true for them. But if there was a species here, adapted to the current world's condition, he and his brethren would have to leave and seek their main source of energon elsewhere.

But no. He could not allow that to happen. There were no other planets in the galaxy with such an amazing sun.

On one hand though, they would build the harvester while searching for life. If, by the time the harvester was finished and none was found, they would turn on the machine using their legendary key and gather the Energon. Quriin just had to make sure nothing made their presence known if anything. With that happy thought in his memory banks, the eldest Prime fell into a deep recharge.

It had been at least three sun cycles since they arrived and only halfway finished building the machine. The Primes had found the perfect spot where the sun would be at its highest, allowing them to start the machine when the time came.

Morpheus who was crafting the metals together at the bottom, kept a close optic on Quriin who seemed withdrawn from them lately. If only he knew the reason why, he might be able to say something to get him back to normal. Because running off in the middle of a nightly recharge and coming back when the cycle ended was not in his nature. Wherever he planned to run off to next was unknown. But that was a Prime for you.

Perhaps he was only curious about the condition of the world they came upon. But of course, with Quriin as the eldest of them all, it seemed he was merely looking out for his brothers, to protect them if there was anything to be called dangerous on such a primitive planet.

They knew no words, but their facial expressions and body language were able to do the talking for them. The people adapted to knowing what each other needed and only lived simple lives. To take what was wanted at the moment was the only way for them to live. If more was taken, their people would no longer be able to thrive and be wiped out before they could even begin.

The cave dwellings of the primitive humans stretched for miles within the rocky cliffs of the desert. These homes, they were thankful for as their hard homes protected them from high heat of the warm ball that moved slowly above the Earth.

Men and women kept themselves free of as much covering as possible, but had enough to keep themselves covered where was necessary. Their children were also the same, able to move freely until their bodies changed, showing what should not be seen unless you were a mated pair.

Within the desert sands, small children played until they could no longer breathe under the unbearable heat and were in need of water to drink to help cool them back down. The older female children fancied staying in the cool caves watching their mothers teach them how to skin animals and cook them properly over a roaring fire. The rest of them, all the men and older boys, went out to hunt for the entire tribe, training in the process.

Spears and knives made of bone and rock were wielded to protect themselves from the wild nature that befell them while on their hunt. If only these weapons mass produced would protect them from what lay in the middle of the desert sands.

Reaper grabbed a piece of metal from an opening in his leg and welded it to the middle of the harvesting machine. He was grumbling every few minutes as tiny sand grains kept flying into the small crevices of his armor plating. If only they could work on this faster and leave the planet just as quickly as they landed.

The dark colored transformer Elutus Prime just laughed to himself. He understood the pangs of dealing with the consequences of temporarily relocating to a new planet until their mission was done. _A new planet that we have yet to find life on. _He shook his head and continued with his work along with the Prime twins Chalius and Scythe.

Morpheus was settled down for a moment's rest while staring at their potential resource of energy. It wasn't until he sensed movement from his scanning sensors that he alerted his brethren to a possible enemy approaching.

"So there _is_ life on this planet." He stated while standing, gears groaning with each movement he made.

They were in pursuit of a wild beast wandering the desert sands, but had to hurry quickly as the sandstorms covered the tracks. The leader of the hunting party, a gray-haired old man with dark skin covered in white tribal paint, motioned with his hand for the others to come along quietly when he spotted a wild tiger in the distance sunning itself on a large boulder.

As they moved along, one of the youngest members of the hunt, turned to look the other way to make sure there were no other animals in the vicinity. Crouching out of sight behind a couple cacti, the low flying sands helped with his invisibility. His dark eyes squinted seeing blurred figures in the distance. When the sandy grains died down, his eyes widened in fear. What he noticed was unlike anything he nor his tribe had ever seen before.

The rest of the Primes were alerted to the situation and readied themselves for a possible on scale attack by the inhabitants. Their weapons at the ready, all seven stood in a semicircle waiting.

The men made their way up a small cliff that overlooked most of the desert, hoping to get a better view of the invaders of their land. The leader crawled the rest of the way up while the others stayed behind to keep a look out if they tried to sneak an attack from behind.

Darvius and Chalius blinked repeatedly from the high-rise sun overhead. Elutus set a gigantic foot forward. He couldn't believe it. There was actually life on this planet. Even after scanning and scouting for several cycles, there had been no sign. So then, where did they come from? How were they able to be undetected by their advanced sensors? But all that was left for later when They finally appeared.

The two races faced off against one another, the robotic species on the ground and the organic species on top of the cliff. Reaper turned to Scythe realizing the small humans were not going to attack them. Even though they looked feral with their odd colors, he could sense some nervousness and bitter feelings coming from them.

The leader stared down at the aliens. He couldn't tell whether or not they were an enemy or a possible friend. But he knew there was nothing like them anywhere in the land. Although his people never traveled anywhere else for hundreds of years believing staying in one place was the safest thing.

His people understood no words. No speech. So there was a less of a chance to communicate with each other. But as the staring continued, each realized no one was ready to move. Could it possibly mean a chance of no violence?

Quriin huffed, his arms folded together. How could Elutus have them retract their weapons against those weak and pathetic life forms? If they were true warriors, those organics would have insisted on fighting. Just his luck that he wouldn't have the chance to kill anything even though his cold weapons were itching to be fired off at something.

But, according to the Prime Oath, freedom is the right of all sentient beings. And since the Earth's people did not raise their weapons, just curiosity, they had every right to live. And that was something Quriin did not agree with. Even though his internal processor insisted on following the Prime Code and Oath, it was unfortunate he wasn't able to agree with it. Because of the people, now they were not able to harvest the sun for Energon and would leave immediately as soon as a Cybertronian craft was available to pick them up.

It would take at least several cycles and until then, they were stuck with curious humans poking around at their armor and the harvesting machine which they decided to destroy before their departure. However, the eldest Prime had other plans for the machine. An evil smirk appeared. He would be the savior for his planet and would make sure they never heard of life on the planet he suddenly wished destruction upon.

Scythe and Chalius made themselves comfortable outside of the cave dwellings as several of the tribeswomen and men became very wary of the newcomers. Chalius held back a grin when a little girl threw a pebble stone at Scythe's leg causing him to jolt backwards, making the sands rise around him.

The royal blue mech narrowed his optics at his twin brother. "How dare that little organic!" He growled, checking his leg for any damage. "I thought they were a docile race, Chalius?"

"Don't get your armor in a twist, Scythe. It is just a little organic having fun."

"Damaging royalty? Is that what they are taught is fun?"

Chalius shook his head and stared down at the humans. One of them was much closer than the others dared to be. She had long brown hair that looked a little disheveled from lack of combing and bright green eyes practically bore into his own bright blue optics. He deterred his gaze away from her hoping she was gone before looking back, but she remained as still as ever just staring. _What is it about this being?_

Elutus, Morpheus and Reaper were in the process of trying to find some way to communicate with the human race, but no go. The leader kept shrugging his shoulders, not understanding a single word they were saying since all they heard were clicks and whirs coming from their vocal processors.

Reaper rubbed his forehead. "Elutus, there is no way we can communicate with this planet's inhabitants. Perhaps we should just leave them to their own and relocate to another place where the ship can pick us up."

Elutus shook his head. "No. I am not going to give up. This is a new species we have discovered, Reaper. If we are able to find a way, there's a chance we can learn about them."

"Is it worth the aggravation? They do not say a word. Nothing comes from their mouths. If what they have are called mouths to them."

Elutus shrugged. "They just don't have a language to speak of."

Still not understanding their newfound friends, the leader wondered how else he would be able to talk to them. Perhaps a gift of peace and friendship was in order to share? A gift would show them their good nature. Smiling a little, he threw a hand so the Primes would stop whatever they were doing for a moment.

"Hmm?" Morpheus was confused. The leader wanted to either say or show something. But without speech, there was no way to ask what. Especially when they didn't even understand a word of Cybertronian. "What is it, organic creature?"

He walked away from them quickly, only to return several moments later with quite a slew of young females who bore no resemblance to another nor covered with the odd coloring the rest of the tribe was wearing.

Elutus did not understand what was going on. Why were they there? What was he supposed to know? He shook his head and shrugged his own shoulders. "I do not understand."

Reaper had looked around the cave dwellings earlier and noticed that one side of the species cared for the little organics, with many holding new life in their arms and many of the delicate side of them appeared to have a huge growth in their bellies. There was much he wanted to comprehend by studying them, but what he was confused about was how the tiny beings came to be. Did they have some sort of power for them to be created? But it wasn't until he peeked into one of the caves earlier that cycle when the sun was at its lowest and encountered what appeared to be a bonding in process, them not even caring who was eyeing them.

And it seemed the one on top was the dominant of the species while the one with

Elutus glanced over at Reaper who was currently digging into his memory banks of information.

"What is it you are thinking, brother?"

"Hm. Well, Elutus, I was inspecting this species earlier this cycle wondering how they are able to create so many of their kind."

"And?"

"The dominant of the species, I believe, are the ones who supply the energy to create such little creatures _inside_ of the submissive."

"They merge sparks as we Cybertronians do?" Morpheus's optics widened slightly in amusement. Perhaps they weren't as different. "Have you seen their sparks?"

"No. But the dominant carries some type of power source here." Reaper pointed to the juncture where his legs joined together. "This is where their power lies I believe to help create their race."

Elutus was taken aback. If this race had that kind of power in just one body to create life without merging sparks together, what pray tell did the weaker half have to sustain the little ones? This species was strong, that was for certain. And he definitely wished to stay with them further to learn more.

"That is incredible." To learn about the creation of life beyond merging sparks and using the All-Spark to give life? It was a chance of a lifetime. But it brought him somehow to deeper inquiries. If the power source was possibly the same as their own, could a chance be that a Cybertronian and a specimen of this species create a life within as well?

He had been thinking to himself, yet asked the question, "Would it work?"

Reaper and Morpheus were bewildered by the Prime's question and did not know how to answer right away.

Quriin, on the other hand, rather wanted to stay away from the human species. It would no doubt anger him further about finding them alive on one of the only planets left in the galaxy with a sun. He sighed, air venting from the sides of his face. _Take all the time you wish with them, brothers. They will not be here for long. _His face tentacles wriggled with glee. _I will harvest this sun with or without your help. I will finish that machine and bring back the largest supply of Energon our race has ever seen._

He was getting frustrated. His hands kept moving of their own trying to get them to pay attention, but it seemed they were more interested in what each other had to say instead of being happy with the presents he provided them.

The girls stood there like statues unmoving. All had been pulled away from their own homes only to be dragged to the weird foreigners invading their spaces. What could their leader possibly want them for? The only conclusion was to give them away as slaves and presents to them. Never before had there been a need for a worldly trade until then. And it was not like they had anything really to give the tall beings except what they already had.

Chalius and Scythe vacated their spots earlier, Chalius happy that the human from earlier was pulled away, protesting with grunts and shouts. If he had to keep his optics on her, there was no chance of him leaving the area at all. But with freedom at last from that intense stare, he and his twin stomped their way through the sands near Morpheus who was standing away from Elutus and Reaper stuck in a conversation between one another.

"Elutus, what is going on, my brother?" Scythe crossed his metal arms.

Reaper filled them in. "I believe they are trying to give us some of their weaker side of the species here. Although, I do not know why when they are rather important in their thriving continuance to live. It seems - "

"What do you mean?" Chalius interrupted. "What is so special about them?" He pointed to the females and took a gander and practically gasped. One of them in the small herd was the same girl who was taken away from them. _Not that one again._

"They are able to hold life within them, Chalius. That is what is so special about them."

_Hold life within their weak bodies? They must be powerful even though they don't look it._

"Are they giving them to us? As a token of friendship maybe?"

How he wished he could consult with the tribal leader! Elutus's pain receptors kicked in. _My processor can't take this much._ "Reaper, you try and see if we are right." He turned around and headed for one of the boulders lined just several feet away.

Reaper let out what appeared to be a sigh and used his own body to speak back to them. Kneeling down, he opened one of his hands on the sand and gestured for one of the girls to come forward. With a smile on the man's face, the Prime knew he was doing something right.

He took a spear that was held by one of the young men and used it to push the girl into the waiting mech's hand. She seemed hesitant at first and looked over, pleading with her eyes not to have to go. His aged dark eyes shut as his head shook as if to say, 'I am sorry. You must go for the good of our people.' With a deep breathe, her bare feet moved across the heated sand into the waiting hand of Reaper.

Slowly, he lifted her up enough to see her close-up. Her hair was as black as the nights on Cybertron and her eyes… he couldn't resist smiling at those eyes of hers. They were the color of this planet's sky. How he was ready to study what made this being so strong inside with a couple of quick scans. Thus began the research of the human race and what was to come in the future.

T.B.C…

A/n2: Well, sorry if this is a little bit of a rushed prologue, but the next chapter is where the present story will begin with several flashbacks throughout. J Thank you for reading.


	2. Chapter 2

**A Primitive Heritage**

by Zaru

**Summary:** The descendants of the humans given the sparks - two familiar faces and four strangers - are pulled together by NEST to be protected from the Decepticons who want to use them to bring back the Fallen.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Transformers and the human characters belonging to Hasbro. Kia Hawkins belongs to weapon13whitefang. Bethany King belongs to Mrs. Optimus Prime. Zaru Kiys and Abigail Donahugh belongs to me. Dagger, Streakside, Coolant, Windstar, Rocksnare and Motorcross belong to me as well.

**A/n:** I was originally going to have this start as a sequel for A Primitive Heritage, but I decided just to do what I was going to do in the beginning. :D So here goes.

**CHAPTER 1**

**PRESENT DAY**

He had it with the Autobots. They were becoming even more of a nuisance to him than anybody else. And Starscream. Starscream made a coward of him after running off because his master, The Fallen, had been defeated beyond measure of repair. And what's worse was that his right arm was torn off and half of his face slammed in. This was too much damage for a self-repair. He needed a decent medic to restore him to his absolute glory. But his snobbish Decepticon medic Hook wasn't available at the moment. He was still in the middle of repairing himself after being hit in the midst of ruining the pyramid while masquerading with his fellow Constructicons as Devastator.

Starscream, who was still in perfect working order, often teased about Megatron's handicap and could get away with it half the time since his Lord's beatings were less severe with only using two feet and one arm. And even then, it's very minimal problems for him.

Now, with their secret base located on the moon, the remains of the Fallen lay scattered on a large berth in the quickly made-up med bay. Megatron stood over his dead master, outraged at his loss. If only the All-Spark still remained, the former Prime would be brought back to life in an instant. But Hook had to piece him back together first.

_Back to life…_ An evil thought formed in the leader of the Decepticon's mind. _Prime. He was brought back by that fragging fleshling with the Matrix of Leadership. _If that legendary key was able to bring back a Prime, then it might work with his master as well. But he was in no shape to retrieve the Matrix with his condition.

The only way to do it was to send Starscream and a few of the remaining Decepticons back to Egypt and search for it since Optimus believed he destroyed it when the harvesting machine was annihilated. And even if it was, it wouldn't hurt to look.

Sunstreaker and Sideswipe skidded to a halt, pulling up the desert sands surrounding them. The twins had the mission of retrieving whatever they could of the Matrix of Leadership. If there was anything of it left at least. How unfortunate for them to have the dirtiest job at the time. The yellow Lamborghini groaned, his doors opening and closing.

…[Damn, it's fragging hot out here!]… He complained.

…[Then turn your cooling unit on like I did. I'm nice and cool inside so I'm not worried about the heat.]… Sideswipe suggested, revving his engine.

Sunstreaker blew him off. …[I'm not sweltering out here any longer! My paint job will get ruined!]… The twin transformed and crawled to a shady, tented area that the N.E.S.T. team supplied for them in between searching.

Sideswipe somewhat agreed, not wanting his new wax job to go to waste so quickly. "I guess you are right, Sunstreaker." He drove slowly to the tent, transforming before sitting under it next to his brother. "Maybe we should just give it up. The Matrix has to be gone."

"It has to be destroyed. We've searched the area for four days. There is no sign of it." Sunstreaker sighed. "Tell Optimus we're ready to come back."

The red mech let out a laugh. "You complain too much." After receiving a glare from his twin brother, he sent a signal to Optimus.

Major William Lennox stood still, admiring the Autobots' new base with excitement. With everything that happened with the Decepticons in the past couple of weeks, the government, along with the President himself, issued a section of land to be handed over to the transformers in hopes they would continue their long stay on Earth to help protect them. After all, Megatron wasn't dead and he would be able to rebuild his army to attack once more.

Ironhide was finishing the last of the base wall welding and stepped back to admire his handiwork.

"Not bad, Ironhide. Not bad." Will praised his friend. "I've never thought a metal wall could look this good."

The black mech just chuckled a little. "This isn't any ordinary metal, Will. This is true Cybertronian metal alloy. It keeps us off radar of Decepticons easy."

"Maybe I should get some of this stuff for my house, huh?" He joked, playfully bumping Ironhide's leg with the back of his hand.

Before Ironhide could respond, he received a comcall from Optimus.

…[Ironhide, I just received word from Sideswipe. It seems the Matrix is nowhere to be found.]…

_To the pit with that!_ …[Are you sure they were searching for it and not sunning those paint jobs of theirs?]…

He heard a slight chuckle from Optimus. …[No. I heard Sunstreaker complaining in the background about the search. I believe they have been. So, if you do not mind, please inform Major Lennox that a cargo plane must be sent to Egypt for them.]…

…[Right, Prime.]… He ended the comcall with his leader and averted his optics to Will. "Those fragging twins are ready to meet us back here at the base. Optimus needs a cargo plane sent for them."

Will nodded and took out his cell phone, proceeding to dial a number. He walked away from Ironhide to get a better signal near the entrance of the base while speaking to one of the N.E.S.T. members. A few minutes later, he shut the phone and slid it back into his pocket.

"Ironhide, let Sunstreaker and Sideswipe know that a plane within the vicinity should be on its way to get them in E.T.A. 2 hours."

"Of course, Will." And quickly sent the message to the twins, a grin on his face after he ended the link.

"Why are you grinning?"

Ironhide laughed. "Those pranksters are complaining. I believe I am going to enjoy taunting them once they return."

Will just shook his head, sighing. "You never let them have a break, do you, Ironhide?"

"Never take your optics off those two, Will. Primus, they are a menace to the world, if not the entire universe."

The twins lay in recharge in their bipedal modes under the massive tent. After getting word back from Ironhide about the cargo plane, the Lambo twins thought it'd be best if they gathered their energy to ready for anything, just in case.

It was only about twenty minutes into their rest, when the faint sound of fighter jets alerted them to a possible enemy ambush.

Sunstreaker's optics took a few seconds to blink on, his sensors automatically seeking out whatever presence nearby. His body groaned stretching and sitting up, gears cracking in his neck.

"Yo, Sides. Get up! There's something heading our way!" He fisted his hand and clanged it hard against the side of his brother's head. "Come on, bro!"

"Enough. Stop, Sunstreaker." Sideswipe blinked his own blue optics on and sighed. "What is it this time? We have only been recharging for about twenty kliks. This better be important."

Sunstreaker shushed his brother before standing in the heated sun, the ancient sands of Egypt blowing lightly around him. His scanner was picking up at least three fighter jets in the distance and raised an optic ridge. The atmosphere became uneasy as soon as they showed up. He zoomed in on the lead jet searching for anything that belonged to the American military, but all that showed on the underbelly of the flying fighter was the symbol of the Decepticons.

"Slag it all!" The yellow mech shouted and dove back under the tent, making sure his brother knew of what was about to happen. "Sideswipe, it's Starscream and those Seeker brothers of his!"

Both of them transformed into their alt modes, not wanting to pick up a fight with the Decepticons. They were too tired from lack of recharge to even think of doing a thing against three flying opponents. But the twins were smart enough to stay close, but not enough to be detected by the Seeker.

Starscream transformed in midair, motioning for Thundercracker and Skywarp to do the same. His talon-like fingers pointed in two separate directions. Thundercracker and Skywarp nodded. And, without saying a single word, separated in search of the legendary key.

He mentally seethed when all he saw was a ruined pyramid and sand. No sign of the Matrix picking up on scan readings. Megatron had a lot of nerve sending him down here on a lackey's job. The gravity-defying sand was clogging in his circuits and the heat from the afternoon sun was not helping. His cooling unit was currently unavailable as it was partially damaged in the last battle with the Autobots and the humans.

"Send me down here to search for what is already disposed of." He muttered, plopping himself on the wreckage of an old building not noticing two sets of blue optics staring at him from behind a sand hill.

Sideswipe was tired of staring at Starscream already. It was boring and unnecessary.

"Let's just drive off into that Egyptian city until they leave. We got at least a cycle left until they come for us. That should be more than enough time for them to get to do what they have to and leave."

Sunstreaker shook his head. "No, Sides. There's only one reason Starscream could be here."

Bewildered, he asked, "What could he look for out here?"

Fisting his gray metal hand, he punched his brother in the arm. "The Matrix, you dumb aft!" He hissed.

"Oh. And ow!" Sideswipe rubbed his arm. "Hit me again and I'll scratch that new job of yours!"

"Just shh!" Then he added, "And if you scratch me, you'll be meeting Primus very shortly afterwards."

Skywarp's huge grayish-purple frame shook. The flying grains were annoying the hell out of him enough to make him leave without his brothers. Why did he have to join Thundercracker and Starscream anyways? It wasn't like Starscream wouldn't be able to handle searching for an itty, bitty key that, most likely, was destroyed along with their great master, the Fallen.

He grumbled the rest of the way toward the shambles of the pyramid and, what used to be, the sun harvesting machine. That was the last place the Matrix of Leadership was known to be.

Thundercracker wasn't having any luck. Where in the name of Primus would he be able to find that key in the sand? It's been several days since the battle and with the sandstorms as bad as they are in the desert, not easy to find something so small. He lifted a side of his lips in a sneer. He was going to offline Starscream for making him look there. Sand was going to clog in little nooks and crannies of his armored body and cause his pain receptors to go off while transforming.

_To the pit with you, Starscream…_

The Med Bay was full of quiet except for the tinkering of Ratchet's tools on Optimus Prime who was receiving a maintenance check-up. Ever since he came back to life, the Chief Medical Officer insisted on examining the Autobot leader daily to make sure everything was working properly.

On another berth laying a few feet away against the same wall were the remains of Arcee. The poor fembot was blasted away during the battle at Egypt and was a failure to bring back. Ratchet would use her parts as extra parts for their comrades. It was what she would have wanted.

Mikaela was standing nearby in case she was needed. Ratchet took her under his wing as an apprentice, learning much about Cybertronian anatomy. With Sam at college, it gave her a little something more to do and look forward to in later years. Hopefully, she would become useful to them during a battle, helping to patch up minor damage.

Optimus wished Ratchet would hurry it up a little. He understood how much the medic cared about his well-being, but these checkups every day were going to push his processor into overdrive.

"Ratchet, is this really a necessity?" He wondered. "I am not the only one you should be checking up on." As leader, he put the needs of his fellow Autobots first.

Ratchet raised an optic ridge and pressed a button on the berth, stopping the current scan. "Well, Optimus, if you weren't dead before, I would say that this is not a necessity. But because Sam brought you back with the Matrix of Leadership, jammed into your spark chamber causing damage, it is. Now stay still. I am almost finished." He pressed the button once again, continuing the scan.

Mikaela smiled. She wished that many more human doctors had the audacity to speak to their patients like he did. Then maybe more people would be healthier after following doctor's orders. A small chuckle escaped her throat.

"Optimus, you can't blame him for being concerned, ya know." Her hands rested upon her hips. "He's a doctor." She pointed out.

The Autobot sighed. "I understand that, Mikaela, but I believe it is safe to say I am all right."

"Done." Ratchet stated, adjusting a couple knobs and pushing down a switch above Optimus. "I guess you may be right, Optimus. You are in perfect working order. But I still wish to do more checkups on you than normal."

If he agreed to the minor terms, he'd be off the hook from seeking medical checks everyday. Nodding his head, he agreed. "All right, Ratchet."

Starscream finally stood up after a short rest. He hoped Thundercracker or Skywarp had any luck with finding the Matrix of Leadership, but no go. The three Seekers vented.

"Why is Megatron so hyped on getting this Matrix anyways, Starscream?" The blue seeker demanded.

"Yeah." The dark purple jet wondered as well. "And I thought Prime destroyed it after wrecking the harvester."

The rusty coppered second-in-command tapped his talons against, what appeared to be, his chin. His brother was right. The key was within the machine. With Optimus' new power thanks to the old Decepticon-turned-Autobot Jetfire, along with American armies, everything was ruined. It all blew up. There was no way that Matrix of Leadership could have survived such a disaster.

"Hmm."

"Well, to the pit with this, Starscream. There's nothing here! We came and wasted energon for nothing!"

Well that plan was blown for certain. Megatron was not going to like the outcome of their search and, most likely, _he_ would get blamed for not looking hard enough.

"Slag it all!" He growled and transformed into his F-22 Raptor alt mode. "Thundercracker! Skywarp! Back to the Nemesis now!" That said, he powered up his engines and flew up into the atmosphere leaving Thundercracker and Skywarp to follow suit. Unluckily, a new sandstorm began to stir around the area and blew into Skywarp's system and blocking his stream of view.

"Ah! Fragging earth sand!" He grumbled before flying off his own course and into the rest of the pyramid, whirling with a shout, plunging into the sands below.

Thundercracker saw what happened and transformed, doubling over in laughter. "Ha ha ha ha! What's the matter, Skywarp? Navigational systems shut down again?"

He grumped and struggled to get unburied, but only caused himself to go deeper. _Slag it!_ There was no way he would get out of there without changing back into his bipedal mode. However, if he did transform, sand would clog his gears leaving him in half transformation.

"Shut up, Thundercracker! Just get over here and help me out of this blasted earth!" Was all Skywarp could mumble.

Still laughing, the blue Seeker flew over to his brother.

They didn't know how much longer their processors would be able to hold back laughter. If they ever saw a Decepticon in an awkward, but hilarious situation, this was it. And Sideswipe, looking the situation over, had an idea.

"Sunstreaker, Starscream's gone and Skywarp's heading to the Pit. We can at least take Thundercracker out for the time being."

Sunstreaker's fight for laughter broke as he glared over at his brother. "Are you nuts? That's a Seeker. He'd have our afts! Besides, I don't have enough energy to take anything on right now."

"Then what do you suggest we do?"

"Keep covered until they leave." The yellow Cybertronian turned his optics back to the two Decepticons.

Starscream noticed that his brothers were not following behind after a few minutes. He growled and transformed, scanning the area for any sign of them.

"Those fragging brothers of mine are glitches!" His raspy voice hissed. "I'll have them in the scrap heap for not following orders!" That said, he jetted his engines and retraced his path.

"Grab hold of my wing, Thundercracker!"

The blue Seeker gripped as best he could on his brother's alt mode. It wasn't going to be easy pulling him out. Especially when his struggling found him deeper in the sands of Egypt.

"Shut up, Skywarp! I'm tryin'!" An amused grin spread across his face. "Or maybe I should just leave ya! Let the Autobots find ya here!"

"To the pit with you, Thundercracker!" Skywarp shouted, the butt of his raptor mode wriggling.

"I'm just kidding, Skywarp. Take it easy! I'll have ya out of there in no time!"

With his sharp nose buried in the sand, he couldn't see anything. It seemed like forever that Thundercracker was taking. But his struggles ceased as he noticed something familiar buried down in front of him.

"Well, I'll be." There sitting in front of him was the roughed up Matrix of Leadership.

T.B.C…

A/n2: Holy crud! I can't believe it! This story chapter is loooooooooong! Oh, well, I really hope you enjoyed it. Remember to R & R. Thanks.

Zaru


	3. Chapter 3

**A Primitive Heritage**

by Zaru

**Summary:** The descendants of the humans given the sparks - two familiar faces and four strangers - are pulled together by NEST to be protected from the Decepticons who want to use them to bring back the Fallen.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Transformers and the human characters belonging to Hasbro. Kia Hawkins belongs to weapon13whitefang. Bethany King belongs to Mrs. Optimus Prime. Zaru Kiys and Abigail Donahugh belongs to me. Dagger, Streakside, Coolant, Windstar, Rocksnare and Motorcross belong to me as well.

**A/n:** Sorry that it took so long for me to update a chapter of this story… -_- I seriously need to try and update more on stories…. ANYWAYS, hope you enjoy this chapter!

**CHAPTER 2**

"Ah! Not so hard, Thundercracker!" Skywarp growled once more. "Hurry and get me out! I found the Matrix!" He chuckled with glee.

Hearing those words made Thundercracker pull harder, finally retrieving his brother from the grainy terrain. "About time!"

Skywarp took a moment before transforming, only to find he couldn't do it without his pain censors going off because of the sand stuck in his armor cracks. "What the pit! I can't transform! Stupid sand hurts!"

"I can shake ya around and get it out for ya." His brother suggested with a laugh.

"Very funny, Thundercracker! Just reach down in there and grab the Matrix so we can get out of here!"

The Seeker nodded and thrust his heavy arm into the sand. It was hard to bury himself, unable to reach further down. He groaned a little before pulling out his arm, fisting and pounded a hole to separate the sand. "Ah ha! There you are, you Matrix!" Grinning, he was able to grip the sharp end of it to pull it out.

"Finally!"

Sunstreaker and Sideswipe's optics widened. No way that those Seekers could find the Matrix of Leadership before they did! It was impossible! They spent four days searching every bit of the location and they find it within several minutes? The day couldn't get any worse.

"Frag! They found the Matrix before we did, Sunstreaker! What are we going to do?" Sideswipe's hands fisted in anger. "We need to retrieve it from them or Optimus will have our afts hanging from the base wall!"

Sunstreaker glanced over at his brother. "I don't know. Two against two are good enough odds, but with them being Seekers, we don't stand a chance right now! Especially when Starscream is coming back!"

"Huh?" When his brother pointed to the opposite direction, he made a small 'O' with his mouth.

Starscream made his way back to his brothers, Skywarp in alt mode and a grinning Thundercracker admiring something he couldn't see at first. Shutting off his engines, he transformed in midair, grabbing whatever his brother was holding.

"Give me that! What is the reason you stopped for this- OH!" His red optics darkened seeing the Matrix. "Well done, Thundercracker. Now we can head back to the Nemesis and reawaken the Fallen."

Nodding, the trio jetted out of Egypt into the atmosphere leaving a stunned Sunstreaker and Sideswipe behind just to stare.

Megatron could no longer wait for Hook. So, instead, he proceeded to order Breakdown on how to repair him. He wasn't the medic to run to all the time, but he was good enough to reattach a missing armored limb. Besides, the Decepticon leader was bored out of his mind without much to do. He couldn't wait to see what Starscream and the Seekers uncovered at the site of the Pyramids.

Breakdown finished inserting the last of the arm circuitry into Megatron's shoulder when the med doors opened to reveal a grinning Starscream.

"Well, Starscream, did you find it?" Megatron growled and hissed when Breakdown accidentally created a spark between two wires. "Slag it, Breakdown! Watch what you're doing or I'll have your spark!"

"Yes, Lord Megatron." He uncrossed the two wires before inserting them into the right places and twisting them to fit. "There. You should be able to feel now."

The silver mech stood up, testing out his arm. It was similar to the one he had before, but it was a black shade and weighed lighter. "Ah. That feels so much better. Be proud, Breakdown. I can finally feel again." He smirked as he fisted the claws of the new hand. "This will be the arm that I tear Optimus' spark out with!"

"Sir." Starscream held out the Matrix.

"Ah. Well done, Starscream." Megatron held his hand open to let the Matrix of Leadership rest in his hand. "What has happened to it?" He growled seeing it all roughed up.

"It was damaged during the Energon harvester's blast, Megatron. But I'm sure it still has power enough to work to bring your master back."

There was nothing much left. Not enough power laid within. It was useless. Megatron could tell that right away. The sparks of the previous Primes that were held within had disappeared from it for good. And the Fallen couldn't be brought back without the sparks! But the sparks were gone! Optimus Prime was resurrected with them.

"My lord?" Breakdown wondered if he was all right. He had been quiet for some time now.

Megatron could see a slight pulse of life with the Matrix of Leadership. He grinned. That might not be enough to bring back the Fallen at the moment. But it wasn't like he couldn't retrieve whatever remained of their sparks on Earth. It so happened that after the fallout fight between the Fallen and his brother Primes, knowing they were going to meet Primus, their sparks were parted. One part went into the Matrix, another went to seal up the Matrix and the rest…

"Starscream!" He shouted even though his second in command was very near.

"Megatron?" Starscream tilted his head to the side.

"It's time to go hunting for humans." He let out a dark chuckle. Oh yes. His master would rise again. And this time, he would defeat Optimus for good!

TBC…

A/n2: Primus that was very short! I know, sorry sorry! But don't worry! I already know what I'm going to be doing for the next chapter! But I do hope you enjoyed this!

Zaru


	4. Chapter 4

**A Primitive Heritage**

by Zaru

**Summary:** The descendants of the humans given the sparks - two familiar faces and four strangers - are pulled together by NEST to be protected from the Decepticons who want to use them to bring back the Fallen.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Transformers and the human characters belonging to Hasbro. Kia Hawkins belongs to weapon13whitefang. Bethany King belongs to Mrs. Optimus Prime. Zaru Kiys and Abigail Donahugh belongs to me. Dagger, Streakside, Coolant, Windstar, Rocksnare and Motorcross belong to me as well.

**A/n:** Phew. Another chapter update. About damn time right? Okay, well, we finally get to meet the four human strangers that are going to be a big part of this story. So I hope you enjoy. J

**Chapter 3**

If only she rejected the offer of being apart of the N.E.S.T. team. Then, she'd already be retired from the Army and living a simple life working, drinking and getting into fist fights. A smug grin contorted on her face as the Hummer she drove filled with the window-shattering sound of grunge music. Her foot free from the gas pedal as the vehicle was on cruiser, tapped lightly against the floor. A knuckle-gloved hand showed its favorite finger to passers-by near her ride while stopped at a red light. She gave a glare to some men who whistled her way.

"Fuck off, assholes!" Kia shouted.

One of them stopped and gave a chuckle. "Oh, come on, sweetheart! I'll show you a good time!" His eyebrows wiggled suggestively, an amused smile on his face.

With a smirk and skid marks left behind from squealing tires, she shouted, "I'm not into men!" Which left him speechless.

Driving along as the sun was on the horizon, building after building whooshing past, a musical ringtone was sounding from the dashboard. Kia heard it vibrating as well and knew right away it was her cell phone. "Shit." The curse word escaped her. "Who is it this time?" At the closest building, she pulled to the side and parked before answering. "Better not be that damn Agent Simmons. He pisses me off." Yawning and staring at the small screen, her icy eyes rolled and pressed the talk button on the Blackberry. "Yo."

"_Kia, you left me a message earlier. What'd you want?"_ Came a tempered female voice on the other line.

"Why the hell would I call you?"

There was a short pause. "_Because you're already lonely."_ The Army woman could tell her aunt was drunk.

"O-kay. Listen, Aunt Jo, you need to go to a nice bed and sleep. I think you've had a little too much to drink today." Every time her aunt decided to get drunk, it was when her uncle went on business trips. And that left Kia to hear her phone ringing every five minutes with a stupid excuse from her Aunt Jo. "Go to sleep. Bye."

Not wanting to take anymore chances of being interrupted while driving once more, she put the phone on vibrate and made sure all calls went directly to voicemail. _Just my luck that I can't drive without some form of moron calling me for stupid reasons._ That problem put aside, she shifted from park and continued on driving.

It was another busy day at the hospital and she was exhausted. Unfortunately, she hadn't been able to take a decent break in fifteen hours since half the nurses either called out or didn't even bother to show up. Her fiery hair was disheveled from its tight bun and hung loosely touching her neck. Timing was so hectic, she wasn't able to fix it until her shift was finally over with.

Luckily, one of the registered nurses came in early for her own shift and opted to take over the rest of Beth's so that she may rest a little before heading home. She sighed in relief. At last she could be away from a sterile environment and in her own cluttered setting of home.

It took her awhile to change from her scrubs in the locker room into decent clothing before locking the locker back up and jetting out of there. For once, she was happy not to be working for at least a few days. Working day in and day out was unfortunate for the poor woman who was in love with her career. Studying and training were endless to become a nurse until she finally received her certification as a registered nurse.

The keys jingled around her purse as she frantically searched for them. _Damn keys playing games with me!_

"I hear ya, you stupid keys!" Tongue hanging slightly from the side of her mouth, she felt around some more and rejoiced when her fingers found them. "Yes!" Smiling, Beth reacquainted herself with her forlorn corvette that had nothing on either side of it, easy to get inside without damaging another vehicle. "Time to go home." The engine turned over as soon as she slid the key in the ignition and rubbed her face. "If I can stay awake long enough to reach home, that is." A breath escaped her and she shifted the gears, reversing, then turning the wheel to get out of the parking garage.

"If you so much as touch that alcohol, you're dead!" The club owner shouted over the deafening music to her waitresses on break who tried to sneak a drink or two from the cute bartender.

It happened every so often and she was lucky to catch them. The girls were underage and very flighty. One minute they'd be bitching about the job to do and next were flirting and having a good time with the bartender. But it seemed that time, there were no worries. The new bartender she hired just a few weeks before wasn't taking any risks for jailbait. Which was why he always swapped bottles of alcohol for sodas instead. The girls never knew the difference until after a few sips and complained each time.

This second, she heard the screeching of one of the newer waitresses who happened to be a teenager on a work permit. With a heavy binder under one arm, she grasped the stair railing with a free hand and headed down, two steps at a time.

She halted as a bunch of dance goers moved past, dancing a little while sipping their drinks from colored straws. Zaru raised an eyebrow, noticing one of the girls' skirts was tucked in the back of her underwear. Her mouth covered to hold a laugh, she treaded to the bar and slammed the binder down next to her employee's arm.

"What the hell, Zaru!" She sneered while chugging down her soda. "Ah!"

"Brittany, if I so much as find out you snuck alcohol from behind the bar, you're fired! Do you hear me, Brit? Fired!"

"Breath check!" She laughed as she blew hot air in her boss' face. "Analyze."

Her face contorted in disgust and grabbed the empty glass from her hand. "Brittany, some advice for future reference? Breath mints don't help the nasty smell of alcohol disappear." Handing the glass to her bartender, the green and auburn-haired woman grabbed Brittany's upper arm. "Did you get a ride tonight?"

The brown-haired teen shook her head sadly. "No."

"Don't tell me you walked to work tonight!" Zaru asked in shock. Her club was isolated on the outskirts of Tranquility, a couple miles from other civilization. "You're buzzed, Brit. Come on. I'll give you a ride home." After leading Brittany around the club to a couple bouncers and employees explaining what she was doing, both of them headed into the darkness outside, piling into her green convertible and driving off, the dust of the road left behind them.

Nothing was going the way she planned. It was bad enough she was a poor college student who had a stupid part-time job, barely able to afford rent and food for herself. And now her landlord was expecting her to pay up front in the next three days her rent for the month or she would be evicted from her apartment. How she wished things were like they used to be fore she moved to Tranquility.

Abigail Donahugh sat her splintered desk on the other side of the living room. Her hands were holding onto her account book, hoping money would magically appear in her account somehow. But it was unfortunate. There was not enough to cover her rent and she still had not bought any groceries for the month either.

Her stomach growled at the thought of food. Sighing, she stood up, throwing her bank book on the desk and treaded into the kitchen hoping for a sign of food. Opening the refrigerator she pulled out leftover Chinese food from the previous evening and went to heat it up in the microwave.

Sadly, she leaned against the kitchen counter waiting for the microwave to beep that her food was hot and ready for her to munch on. Those few minutes felt like an hour to her. Just waiting for food to be cooked made Abigail impatient. Shaking her head, she kept herself busy by piling the dirty dishes in the sink on top of each other until she could get to them in the morning before class.

_Why can't things go right for me? I'm gonna have to find a new job as soon as I can. Something that pays more and is full-time. _Her red hair rest fanned across her shoulders keeping her warm from the chill that made its way into the apartment. A heavy sigh escaped her. If things didn't get better, she would probably quit school and move back home, finding another way to better herself in the world. But little did she know there was already something better on its way.

TBC..

A/n: Finally another chapter for APH came out! I'm happy even though it's pretty damn short. But either way, I updated.

Sparks and hearts,

Zaru


	5. Chapter 5

**A Primitive Heritage**

by Zaru

**Summary:** The descendants of the humans given the sparks - two familiar faces and four strangers - are pulled together by NEST to be protected from the Decepticons who want to use them to bring back the Fallen.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Transformers and the human characters belonging to Hasbro. Kia Hawkins belongs to weapon13whitefang. Bethany King belongs to Mrs. Optimus Prime. Zaru Kiys and Abigail Donahugh belongs to me. Dagger, Streakside, Coolant, Windstar, Rocksnare and Motorcross belong to me as well.

**A/n:** By Primus' spark! I cannot believe it's been a year since I let out chapter! I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOO sorry my friends! I promise, I will update this story a lot faster than before! Hope you enjoy this chapter! XD

**Chapter 4**

The shining, round orb in the sky rested easily as darkened clouds passed by covering the illumination just a bit. Stars sparkled brightly, constellations easily seen over the city. In the distance, a faint rumbling of jets came from the North. They were pretty lucky with the already noisy and busy city below. And the night gave the flying Decepticons the cover of darkness to try and complete their mission. Each one flew behind Starscream who was holding onto the Matrix of Leadership within his chassis. It was to be used to find the remainder of the Primes' sparks that resided in six humans within the world. According to Megatron, the Matrix would give off a type of high-pitched noise and glow brightly whenever a spark was nearby. The Legendary Key was a catalyst though in their search.

Earlier, Megatron had Breakdown and Soundwave use the last remaining energy in it to pinpoint search locations of the human insects they needed to get their claws on. Each site came up within seconds of each other, shocking Megatron, but giving him the best laugh of his lifetime. Coincidentally, all six of those sparks were in close proximity to one another, albeit several miles apart from one in a couple different areas. That was when he gathered whatever troops he had left and sent them in the sky and down below. The search would be very easy. Four sparks was in the one city of Tranquility and two were located near the desert in Nevada.

Starscream chuckled at the thought. Hunting humans had become one of his favorite past times ever since they invaded Earth a few years before. But with the Autobots on alert, along with the militia of Earth, well, they haven't been able to come out as much to have some fun. But this time, hunting the humans was a serious business. Each human the Matrix would glow for, would be a human very important to Megatron's cause.

The quietness was getting on Thundercracker's nerves. He had to speak otherwise the silence would kill him. "_Hey, Starscream!_"

An irritated huff came from the lead Seeker. "_What do you want, Thundercracker?"_

"_How's it going, buddy?"_

There was a pregnant pause for a couple of moments. "_I'm fine, Thundercracker. Just flying along. How are you?" _The sarcasm dripped from his metallic voice, though his Seeker brother did not seem to notice.

Thundercracker chuckled. "_I'm doin' all right. Though my aft still hurts from falling down the base steps."_

"_Yes, you fell._" Starscream cackled mentally. Of course his brother may be strange and a bit idiotic, but he never could tell when somebody had it in for him.

A bit ago, before they had left the base, Starscream had demanded his Seeker brothers to join him and Megatron in the Control Room where Soundwave was ready to load the tracking data into them. Thundercracker was walking up the steps from the bunker area where all the Decepticon warriors recharged, but he was late. His apology went over their heads as Megatron turned from the control panel and Soundwave to head over and speak with Starscream about something. On _accident, _the jagged-armored mech elbowed the blue flyer in his cockpit, making certain he was unable to gain balance and bounce down the stairs, loud clangs and metal scraping becoming fainter as he kept going.

Skywarp knew what his brother was thinking about and let out his own laugh. "_Ha ha ha ha!"_Confused, the flyer asked, "_What's so funny, Skywarp? Thinking about when you got your aft stuck back in Egypt?_" He laughed, swaying side to side. _"Cause if you are, that's still funny!"_

Skywarp growled. _"Shut up, Cracker!"_

"_Haha! Make me, Warp!" _The purple Seeker growled once more and slammed into his fellow Decepticon's side. "_Wha-Hey! What'd you do that for, Skywarp?_"

"_That's for yuckin' it up at my expense! I'm too good-looking to have my reputation ruined amongst the femmes!"_

"_Stop being such a blowhard!"_

"_Kiss my aft!"_

Starscream's sanity was slowly melting away listening to the two bicker like an old couple. Their squabble was not easy on his audio receptors, making him receive one hell of a headache.Finally, he had enough! _"Blow out both your exhaust pipes, you insolent fools!"_ He heard silence once again and grumbled. _"We are not here to argue about idiotic happenings! Now, get to work!_"

The copper F-22 raptor scanned the city below them as each Seeker finally parted in a different direction leaving the second-in-command alone for once. Peace at last. Starscream was happy to be on his lone task without those two idiots ruining it for him.

So far, the Matrix hadn't detected anything from high up. He probably should fly a little lower to be nearer to the humans so the Matrix would have better chance of reacting. But if the Decepticon did fly so low, he would be detected. _The fleshlings would give word out and we'd be done in by those Autoscum!_ As if they weren't already on Decepticon radar at the moment within being in Earth's atmosphere, but nonetheless he had to risk it. His Lord commanded it.

After a little more time of flying, he decided it might be best to hand the Matrix over to one of his ground troops. They would have better luck finding at least one of the humans carrying a Prime spark. Instead, he preferred making himself useful by flying over the desert. At least there, he could track the humans using the programming from the Matrix Soundwave injected into his software and not worry too much about many humans nearby.

He sat still, parked in the darkest area possible away from human populace. It wasn't what he was told to do, but the poor black and white mech was pissed off at Megatron and Starscream at the moment. Being on alert for so long in the security room of the _Nemesis_ proved to be the most boring job he ever had. It felt like he was wasting away, slouched in the torn chair just watching a few monitors. Finally, his chance came when Hook came in to relieve him because Megatron had a job for him to do.

And this is where he ended up, even more bored. Facing the boredom, he decided to do a systems analysis to make sure everything was 100% full working order. Especially his weapons and navigation systems. If neither worked, he would be in deep trouble unable to locate coordinates nor open fire if fired upon.

Halfway through the analysis, his radar picked up a bleep, zoning in on it to reveal Starscream heading straight toward him. _Great._ He thought. Now the revolting right-hand of his master was coming by. Barricade prayed it wasn't for more work, not that he was doing much of anything anyways.

The trees surrounding Barricade gave him enough cover to transform, allowing Starscream to locate him a little better. He glanced up with his quadruple red optics, rage shown within them. _Better make this quick._ The high-powered jet nose-dived from high in the sky, transforming in mid-air and landing on his bird-like feet, a low growl rumbling from his vocal processor.

"Hn, Barricade, what are you doing out here? Why aren't you patrolling the city as you are commanded by Megatron?" He pointed a taloned finger to the shorter mech. "You know better than to laze about!"

"I was doing a systems check before beginning my patrol of that fleshling city. But you disturbed me in the midst of it." His crimson optics narrowed. "What are _you_ doing here, Starscream?" He countered. "Shouldn't you checking above in your search!"

Starscream's head turned from side to side making sure no other person or even an Autobot was around. "I plan on broadening my search, therefore putting the Matrix in _your_ care upon my return!" His rusted chassis opened and he reached in pulling out the Key, handing it over to the warrior. "_Don't disappoint me, Barricade, or I will have your spark!_" Without another word, he jumped into the air, transforming with the gears grinding as though needing oil and heading into the atmosphere, cutting the tops of a few trees along the way.

Barricade roared, fisting his clawed hand with the Matrix in it together. _"I hate that guy!"_

_()()()()()()_

The cargo plane flew slowly overhead where the Autobot base resided. Waiting at the entrance of the base were all the Autobots, gazing up into the night sky, the plane covering the full moon. A nice wind was blowing giving the Lambo twins the leverage they needed jumping out the back of the cargo plane. They allowed themselves to fall for a few seconds before activating interior parachutes bringing them slowly down in front of their Autobot commander who had a look of worry on his face.

"So the Decepticons were seeking out the Matrix of Leadership as well." At the twin warriors' nods, he asked, "Did they find it?"

Sideswipe stepped. "Yeah, Optimus, they did. We wanted to go after them, but we could barely move around in sand in alt mode."

Sunstreaker scoffed. "We could've taken them, but Sideswipe," He pointed to his twin, "wanted to play Hide and Seek with those fragging Seekers!"

The red mech turned to his brother. "Do you still not understand we were outnumbered, plus the fact they are flyers and we are not?" He sighed and turned back when Sunstreaker stuck his nose in the air, arms folded across his chest. "I'm sorry we failed you, Prime. I was actually thinking of surviving instead of being off lined!"

"_You were just too afraid to go against them!_"

Optimus groaned. "That is _enough_! I will not have fighting amongst my men!" A shout escaped.

All optics turned to him. "Sir?" Asked a blue and white mech next to him.

"Yes, Mirage?"

"What will we do if they try to use the Matrix to bring the Fallen back? Then what?"

Ironhide grumped. "Prime'll kick his aft! That's what! He's done it once before, he can do it again!"

"Be as it may, Ironhide, we have to retrieve the Matrix at any cost. Even without spark energy to power it, it is still a dangerous tool and an ancient relic of our home planet of Cybertron."

Suddenly, the entrance to the base opened revealing the neon medic Ratchet, fear on his face. "Optimus!"

The Autobot leader turned at the CMO's call. "Ratchet, old friend, what is wrong?"

"I sense the Decepticons are near." His blue optics widened. "And they are hunting."

Prowl raised an optic. "Hunting what?"

A metallic gulp escaped him. "The remaining sparks of the Primes."

TBC..

A/n: Finally another chapter for APH came out! I'm happy even though it's pretty damn short. But either way, I updated.

Sparks and hearts,

Zaru


End file.
